JUSTICE

07.26.13

Cleveland Kidnapper Pleads Guilty

Tony Dejak/AP

Former school bus driver turned sexual predator Ariel Castro pleaded guilty to more than 937 counts of rape, kidnapping, and assault Friday, landing him life in prison without parole—plus 1,000 years. The judge made it clear to Castro that his decision to accept the plea deal means that he will never attend a trial. The 53-year-old—who held three women captive in his Cleveland home for nearly a decade—told the judge he had “sexual problems” and an addiction to pornography. “I would just like to say that I was also a victim as a child,” Castro added at the end.